Liz hugged her friend again. “You’re perfectly nice.”
“Not really. I try. I was horrible in high school, but you know that. I want to be better. I have her cat and I swear I’ll do everything possible to make that cat happy.” She sniffed again. “I guess I should buy a book or something. ‘Cat Happiness for Dummies.’”
Liz didn’t mean to be insensitive, but she couldn’t help laughing. “I’m not sure they have that title yet.”
“I have to do something. I guess I should really be grateful she only left me the cat. She had those embryos. I don’t know what arrangements she made for them.”
Liz hadn’t thought about that, but it made sense. Crystal would be concerned about her unborn children. “That would be a lot of responsibility,” she conceded quietly.
“Figuring out what to do with them?” Pia asked.
“Sure. Implied in the gift is the request to have the babies, then raise them.”
“I’m glad it’s not me,” Pia noted. “A cat is about all I could handle. I’m not very maternal.”
“You don’t know until you try.”
“I have trouble keeping plants alive. I don’t really do the nurturing thing.”
Liz shook her head. “Do you think I was prepared to have Tyler? You do what’s required. At first it’s hard, but then it gets easier.”
“I need a drink,” Pia muttered. “Let’s go see what Jo’s pouring.”
They made their way to the bar. Before they reached it, an older woman paused to glare at Liz.
She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach and wondered if she could escape out the back way. But before the plan formed, the woman spoke.
“You should have married him,” the older woman snapped, her eyes nearly as blue as her hair. A shapeless floral print dress hung past her knees and her sensible shoes gave her an extra inch of height. “It’s disgraceful. In my generation, if a girl got pregnant, she married the father of her child. Now young people have sex and don’t worry about the consequences.”
Liz opened her mouth, then closed it. What was there to say? Her mind was totally blank, except for the continual chanting of “Anywhere but here.”
Pia stepped in front of her and waved her index finger at the woman. “Back off, Esmeralda. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Liz was a kid. If you’re so concerned about what’s right, why didn’t you step in back then? Why didn’t you talk like this to Liz’s mother? Everyone knew what was happening at her house. Where was your moral code then?”
Esmeralda pressed her thin lips together. “Well, I never.”
“Now you have,” Pia declared firmly. “This is my friend’s wake. Do you really think Crystal would want you talking like this here?”
Liz, feeling all warm and fuzzy and supported, expected the older woman to snap back at Pia.
“You’re right,” Esmeralda said primly. She turned to Liz. “I apologize. For Crystal’s sake.”
“Thank you,” Liz acknowledged, stunned.
Pia linked arms with Liz and took her the rest of the way to the bar. “See? It’s not so bad here.”
“I can’t always count on you to rescue me.”
“I will if I’m there. And let me say for the record, that shows what an amazing person I am.”
Liz accepted the drink Jo passed her. “Because I don’t deserve you defending me?”
Pia took her drink, smiled her thanks, then turned back to Liz. “You walk really straight for someone with such a big chip on her shoulder. It’s impressive.”
Liz bristled. “I don’t have a chip.”
“Oh, please. It’s huge. The size of a small car. Which must make sleeping difficult.”
Liz narrowed her gaze. “Are you drunk?”
“No, but I plan to be.” She took a big swallow of her martini. “My point was you’re so damned perfect, I should hate you, but here I am taking your side. You should be grateful. And maybe buy me a diamond or something.”
Liz had barely sipped her own drink, but her head was spinning. “I’m not perfect.”
Pia rolled her eyes. “As if that’s true. Look at you. You were gorgeous in high school, and now you’re even more beautiful. Worse, you don’t seem to notice. It’s not like you go out of your way to be attractive. It just happens. Have you ever seen me in the morning? No. Well, let me just say without some serious work, I can’t walk out of the house. I would scar small children for life.”
Liz didn’t know if she should laugh or run for her life. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe, but it’s true. Even more horrible, you’re smart. Everyone knows it. Back in school, the teachers always talked about you. ‘Why can’t you be smart and dedicated like Liz?’” she repeated in a mocking tone. Pia took another sip. “You ruined it for all of us.”
Now Liz couldn’t help laughing. “I did not.”